


On the Line

by BellaTheReal



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, As it should be, Fluff, Kinda, M/M, More tags to be added, Sherlock is smoll, Zip Lining, john is great, of COURSE it's fluff, they arent in school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 02:48:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4418198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BellaTheReal/pseuds/BellaTheReal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock is on a gap year and is (unwillingly) signed up for a Zip-Lining tour. Enter one John Watson, Zip tour guide and Grade A charmer.  Because they have to fall in love in every universe imagineable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a fun thing, okay? It's fun and we're going to have fun.

     When Sherlock had accepted the terms of his gap year, he didn’t realize that it would involve America instead of Eastern Europe as he had thought.  Mycroft had been incredibly vague with his description and Sherlock had been, admittedly, foolish.  And now here he was in some frumpy American town where every other shop sold something deep fried or chocolatey.  Of course, that wasn’t to say that the town didn’t have its merits, but Sherlock was rather set on being as miserable as possible. He didn’t want to give Mycroft the satisfaction of enjoying the small town atmosphere and the wide variety of people.

     Removing his sunglasses, Sherlock checked the paper again before looking up at the unimpressive building. It was located in a quieter part of the tourist town, away from the bustle of the busy streets with bumper to bumper traffic of vans and pick up trucks.  Zip Tours, the sign read in a gaudy yellow font, Don’t just see it, experience it, written underneath.  Sherlock rolled his eyes.  It was very obvious who the business pandered too. He stood aside as families poured into the doors in large groups, all laughing and smiling with each other.  Sherlock’s scowl amplified, though he proceeded through the doors.

     The inside smelled exactly like the musk Sherlock had expected, and the noise of  the air conditioner in the corner working itself to capacity hummed as background noise that faded more and more under the chatter of the tour groups.  The entire room screamed mountain adventure and Sherlock wanted to recoil, though he pressed on.

     Looking around, Sherlock began to feel extremely out of place as he stood off to the side alone as the families remained clustered together. He wasn’t homesick for his own family, though it was still rather annoying that he was a black sheep even across the Atlantic.  Reading the sign posted above the front desk, Sherlock stepped forward to sign in and signature away his life on a waiver before he proceeded into the next room where they were to be harnessed.

~~~

     “That’s outrageous.” Sherlock said into the receiver, leaning against the pay phone as he fiddled with his mobile that was more of a paperweight at present, “I don’t do hiking, or outdoors. I agreed to the historical tours and whatnot but ziplining is out of the question.”

     “It will be good for you.” Mrs. Holmes said, her smile was evident even over the phone, “And think of the pictures!” Sherlock had to have kept from groaning, that had sealed it. He would have to go on the tour.

~~~

     “Eleven o’clock tour, come on up!” Shouted a woman from behind the desk situated on the other side of the room, “Come collect your harnesses and step out onto the floor, if you need help we’ve got four lovely tour guides who have done this thousands of times.”

     Sherlock stepped forward, being sized up by the woman in the khaki shirt was uncomfortable, and the fact that he got the harness that was also given to the adolescent before him was even more embarrassing. Ignoring the woman’s directions, Sherlock just stepped into the next area, watching the others strapping up when he was still just holding the harness in his hands.

     “Already not listening?” Inquired a teasing voice, which Sherlock found to belong to the blond man stooping down to hold up the harness, “Step in here.” he said with a hum that indicated this was at least the tenth time he’d done it today.

     “First time?” the blond asked again, with a confident smile as he tightened the straps on Sherlock’s shoulders. There was almost too much going on to process, the other’s hands were working fast and efficiently. He nodded when they made eye contact and the blond smiled, “That’s great, first timers are always the best.” he winked before moving on just as quickly to the person standing next to him.

     Sherlock watched him for a little longer, feeling his face heat as they made eye contact again.  He exhaled sharply through his nose and fiddled with his helmet, putting it on and scowling at the thought of how his hair would look awful for the rest of the day.

     There wasn’t much time to fuss over it after that, seeing as the blond took to the front of the room, waiting patiently for the rest of the guides to join him on either side.

     “Good morning, tour group.. ah..” He checked a paper, “219. Welcome to Zip Tours, I’m John and I’ll be one of your guides. This is Trevor, Angela, and Jean, ah, I know. Jean and John. It’s easy to tell who’s who because I’m obviously cuter.” The tour group laughed and John smiled wider, shooting off another wink that left Sherlock feeling vaguely jealous.

     John went through an extensive list of rules, Sherlock only paying attention because of how enigmatic the blond was. It was clear that John enjoyed what he did and wanted everyone else to like it too. Sherlock admired that and had almost forgotten that he was supposed to be having a bad time.

     Clapping his hands together, John began to split up the groups for the vans and lead them off, “Time to start the tour everyone!” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit more of a development, hopefully some more interaction in the third chapter!

     After a rather long drive up severely steep roads that had Sherlock gripping the leather seat with white knuckles, they arrived to the near top of the peak.  Sherlock hadn’t gotten a chance to get into the van that John was driving and was instead subject to the idle chatterings of Angela and Jean.  

     “Everyone up and out, the van’s only part of the fun.” Jean grinned as he opened the side door to the car. Sherlock stepped out on wobbly legs, the altitude giving him a slight head ache.  He could think of a million other things that he’d rather be doing, but then John came up and clapped his shoulder idly as he walked past to the first line to set up and suddenly Sherlock’s head ache was gone.  

     Stop that, he chided himself.  He adjusted his helmet and stood towards the back of the group, tuning in again as John demonstrated how they’d be walking across the rope bridge to get used to be attached to the line.  It looked wobbly and unsafe. In fact, Sherlock noticed as he looked around at the rigging, it all looked wobbly and unsafe. Though the guides seemed at ease as the three ran across the bridge as if it were second nature.  

     Everyone watched in amusement as Trevor went across the second line, upside down and yelling.  Sherlock had to refrain from scoffing when he caught the way the younger kids seemed to be amazed.  

     “Right,” John started, getting everyone’s attention again, “Don’t mind the show off over there. We’re gonna start here, get you used to being attached to these lovely wires up here…” Sherlock stopped paying attention there, his focus moving to all of John instead.

     It was obvious he’d been doing this for no less than two years, the way he held the ropes and the clips was with a sort of ease that screamed confidence.  He had a very charming smile, and the glint in his eyes said that he knew it.  No doubt a flirt with every person who made their way up the mountain.  Sherlock huffed, steeling himself at the thought. It was nothing, then, the flirting and the winking. Easy enough to detach himself from.

     “...and that’s really all you need to know.” John said with a grin, “Come on, who’s first? Start up a line, groups together..” he instructed, beginning to rig up the first person, a nine year old boy who was too excited and nearly fell through the boards on the rickety bridge.  John didn’t laugh patronizingly, though, instead going over to help him up and instructing him where the best place to hold his harness was.  

     Sherlock frowned, John had every right to be uppity and haughty, the child hadn’t listened to what he said and his consequence was failure. The blond, however, just moved on, not drawing attention to it.  That was admirable, at least.  

     Before he even had a chance to be nervous, it was Sherlock’s turn, and he found that the idea of having to walk across a rope bridge suspended over a small cliff was less nerve wracking than being nearly chest to chest with his guide.

     “Nervous? Don’t be. This is the hardest part of the tour.” John said with an easy smile as he attached Sherlock’s clip to the line, “Off you go, then.” he nudged Sherlock when Angela on the other end had finished rigging up the older gentleman who’d went before Sherlock.

      Sherlock gripped his harness tighter than he’d gripped the van seat. The advice ‘don’t look down,’ obviously didn’t apply here.  He leaned forward, practically stumbling through the boards just like the nine year old before he felt a pair of solid hands on his middle, “Woah there. Not a race.” He heard John behind him.

     The guide lifted him a bit higher to steady himself and Sherlock huffed, “I’ve got it.” he managed, wincing inwardly as he realized his first words to John were petulant and rude.

     “I’m sure you do, but we got another tour coming behind us in an hour and I’d like to get to the end of ours before they catch up.” John said, Sherlock didn’t have to look back to know that the other had a teasing smile plastered to his face.

     Sherlock didn’t reply then, instead just stepping forward and thanking Angela quietly as she rigged him up to the next line.  “Okay, this one’s nice and easy, alright? Just walk straight off the platform and let gravity take its course.” She instructed with a kind smile before turning her head to check the all clear before letting Sherlock go.

     He peered over the edge of the platform, every part of his brain telling him that he shouldn’t be walking off into nothing, but before he knew it, he was tripping off the wooden platform and was flying through the air.  

     Sherlock had his eyes shut for the entirety of it, feeling the wind whipping under his helmet before he was suddenly stopped by a pair of hands, “Keep those legs tucked up, beanstalk.” Jean said with a grin as he unclipped Sherlock and pushed him along to the next line where the group was waiting.  

     His heart was beating fast and his hands were shaking, though Sherlock couldn’t get rid of the feeling of.. satisfaction. That’d been fun and he hadn’t fallen to his death. He watched as Angela made her way over, and then John lastly, the guide using his momentum to jump up high as he unclipped himself and landed on his feet. He shot a grin at Sherlock, as if proud that the other had seen the small feat.

     “Wasn’t so bad, was it?” John asked with a kind smile as he passed Sherlock, who shrugged in response.  That earned a laugh from John as he made his way to the front of the group to confer with the other guides about who would go next.  

     “Okay everyone!” John caught their attention, “This ones a bit of a longer line so a running start is gonna really help you make it to the end. We don’t want you getting stuck out there in the middle because then one of us has to go get you and, well, that’s never fun. But you’re all already looking like a bunch of pros so I don’t think that’ll happen.”

     The three other guides went ahead, leaving John to begin clipping the belts of the youngest children first before setting them off on a run and jump down the line.  Sherlock found that he was rather excited, now, the rush of the first line leaving him craving something a bit more. a bit faster as well.  

     When it was his turn, he didn’t spare John a glance this time, instead just gripping the harness and waiting until John said to go. However, as soon as Sherlock’s feet left the ground, he knew he hadn’t managed enough speed.

     He went forward, and forward, until he slowed to a stop, dangling above a small valley and left absolutely helpless. His face burned with the heat of embarrassment as he heard the guides shouting over at each other before one of them jumped on the line, “Brace for impact!” he heard before a solid body nudged not-so-gently into his own.

     “You’re lucky I’m not Trevor, he’s a monster.” John chuckled, Sherock didn’t respond, prompting more talking from the guide. “It’s fine, y’know. This is the most precarious line. Not much of a decline and if you mess up a running start, well, we’re here.” he rambled, “Lucky for me, it was you.”  
Sherlock frowned, “Why is that, exactly?” he asked, his tone curt.

     John shrugged, “Nothin’.” he said with a smile that implied it was anything but.

     “Just get me to the other end, or are you stalling because you can’t?”

     “Dangerous words to a man in charge of your life.”

     “Hmph.”

      Sherlock didn’t get a chance to hear anything else of what John was saying, because the other shoved off on him, sending them in opposite directions, though Sherlock just hardly made it to the other end, Angela grabbing his shirt to pull onto the platform.

     “We’ve gotta head on without him for the next line, it’ll take him a bit to catch up.” Angela said with a hum, “He’s usually faster with people who get stuck, you two have a nice chat?” she asked rhetorically as she clipped Sherlock to the next line.  He looked back to where John was, the guide swinging dangerously on the line before he managed to propel himself forward.  

    “Off you go!” Angela said, sending Sherlock off, though this time he wasn’t thinking about falling, he was thinking about John. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You guys keep me goin!
> 
> check out my tumblr - bellathereal.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

 

     Unfortunately, the rest of the tour went as usual as one would expect. There were nine lines in total and after the absolute embarrassment that happened on the second, Sherlock got the hang of it. Well, he’d learned to actually put some effort into kicking off, and the rest was thanks to gravity.  

     On the last line, Sherlock stood at the back of the pack as he usually did, watching everyone go on the last and longest line that would get them to the bottom of the mountain. Everyone else was still chattering among themselves, leaving Sherlock singled out.

     John had been relentless, always showing off to the other people in the tour and being brilliant at the zipline, like he’d been doing the lines longer than he’d been walking. Sherlock didn’t even doubt that thought, watching as John clipped another person to the line without even looking.  It was second nature to him, it seemed.  

     When it was his turn to go on the last line, Sherlock looked at the formidable distance.  John must have noticed the look because he felt the other shake a bit with laughter.

     “What is it?” Sherlock asked, almost exasperated at the fact that the man had the audacity to laugh at him.

     “Nothing, you’re just cute is all. Your eyes got twice as wide. This is usually everyone’s favourite line, y’know.” he said as a matter of fact as he clipped Sherlock to the line and held his harness as he waited for the OK from Angela at the other end.

     “Well, excuse me if I think that people shouldn’t be flying around mosquito infested forests on thin wires and shaky platforms.” Sherlock muttered, looking out to the end platform where, apparently, Angela was taking several minutes to unclip the gentlemen before him.

     “You can’t tell me that you haven’t had fun.” John said, quite confident with his statement.

     “Mm, well, I can, actually.” Sherlock countered

     “Liar.”

     “What?”

      “I’m fairly certain you understand the Queen’s English, English.”

     “You think that’s clever?”

     “I thought so.”

     “Well, I think--” Sherlock didn’t get the chance to finish his thought before his breath was taken away quite literally as John pushed him off the platform, sending him zipping down the line. He could hear John laughing faintly behind him, though decided not to dwell on it any further as he was caught by Angela at the end.

     “Alright everybody, thank you for attending..” she started, ushering everyone down the wooden steps to the empty lot where the vans were waiting to take them back to headquarters.  Sherlock stood behind again, watching everyone filtering into the vans and turning when he heard the thump of John’s feet landing on the wood.

     “Sorry, couldn’t resist.” John said when he met Sherlock’s eyes.

     “You could have, it just seems you lack any sort of self control.” Sherlock said, crossing his arms as he turned his back to John, trying to ignore the way his heart beat heavier in his chest as he spoke to the other. It would only give John more ammunition if he were to stumble over his words.

     “Oh, c’mon, it’s all in good fun!” John said, though his confidence seemed to falter as Sherlock remained quiet. “Listen, I’m sorry. Genuinely. You okay? You didn’t get hurt or anything?”

     Sherlock wanted to keep silent, but he made the mistake of looking up to meet John’s eyes and was caught off guard by how concerned the guide seemed to be.

     “I’m fine.” Sherlock answered, begrudgingly.

      It was almost like a switch as John perked up again, “Great!” he said, “Now let’s head to the vans before they leave us behind. Figure you’ll have to stay up front while I drive.”

     The drive back was a fair amount better than there, as it seemed that John was as experienced with driving in the congested tourist town as he was with ziplining.

     He must have noticed that Sherlock was nervous, because John drove a fraction slower, making sure he was careful with the turns on the way back to the main building.   Sherlock wanted to believe that it was for him, but he couldn’t read John like he could with other people.

     “Alright, everyone out,” John announced as he parked, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. In fact, I can recommend a few places for lunch if you need to.”

     Sherlock drowned out the rest of John’s little speech; instead, he hopped out of the van and followed behind the throng of people, ruffling his hair as he pulled off the helmet. The only thing he had to do now was wait for the pictures to be given to him so he could leave and go sulk in his hotel room for the rest of the evening.  

     “Hey, Sherlock, was it?” He heard John ask as he was fiddling with his harness, trying to get it off without looking like an idiot.

     “Yes…” he said, wary of what might be wrong.

     “It’s nothing bad, I promise,” John said, “Just wanted to let you know that the pictures aren’t going to be ready for about an hour since there are a lot to sort through and all that.. Just so you’re not waiting around here I’ve decided that I’m going to take you to lunch.”

     Sherlock paused, ready to go into an explanation about why he couldn’t do that and how he would be able to pick up the photos the next day instead of just waiting. However, by the time he had planned a proper response it must have been a full minute that he hadn’t spoken.

     “Yes.” Yes?!

     “Brilliant!” Brilliant?! Sherlock quirked an eyebrow at John but didn’t say anything further.

     “Right, so,” John smiled, unable to stop apparently, “I’ll go let the others know I’m gonna head off and give you time to de-harness and I’ll meet you at the door.”

     Sherlock watched as John jogged off, leaving him blushing and short of breath and God, he really hated the altitude of this town.  Though a large part of him knew that the altitude wasn’t to blame for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I know updates have been daily but I'm heading back to work tomorrow so we're gonna get a bit irregular. 
> 
> check out my tumblr - bellathereal.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this is chapter one, i'm not sure how many it's going to be but I'm determined to finish this one! 
> 
> check out my tumblr - bellathereal.tumblr.com


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